Regular commercial and vehicular activities in various parts of Uvwie council area of Delta state were yesterday altered by hundreds of protesting women, who took to the streets in protest of alleged unfair treatment by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
The protesting women, who were mostly residents and business owners around Alegbo Road and its environs in Effurun area, took over the ever-busy Effurun/Sapele Road during a procession to the office of the BEDC, which is situated along the road. The occupation of the road left movement along the major dual-carriage access shut down for about 3 hours.
Explaining the reason for the protest to journalists yesterday, one of the leaders of the action, Mrs. Kehinde Ejebubor, said the management and officials of the electricity distribution company had been mean and unfaithful to the people of the area, citing the lack of faith the company showed over a transformer issue in the last 4 months.
According to her, residents of the area had endured darkness for about four months and had some point reached out to the company to seek solution. She said they were told that their transformer was bad, adding that every compound in the area had to contribute N5000 each for the situation to be sorted out. The situation was not better, the extra cost notwithstanding.
“Over four months ago our transformer was bad and BEDC did nothing about it for more than two months. Whenever we complained to them, they will tell us they do not have the materials to fix it. We resorted to self help and we tasked each building to contribute five thousand naira each which we gathered and handed over to BEDC officials to fix the transformers.
“Two months after fixing it, the situation still did not improve. We were told they are going to be rationing the light one day in and one day out, even the one day we are supposed to have power supply, they give us for just one hour and we stay in the dark the rest of the day.
“To worsen issues, all those months our transformer was bad and we were in blackout, they still bring us bills in the name of estimations, like myself staying in three bedroom apartment along Alegbo road, they gave me twenty three thousand naira (N23,000) in one of those months our transformer was bad and we ask them how they arrived at the estimation when we never had supplies”, she narrated.
She further stated “most of us you are seeing here protesting today are into one business or the other that relied on power supply. Some of us are hair dressers, some sell drinks and operate restaurants to assist our husbands at home, but we are being frustrated on daily basis due to no electricity supply and we had to go as far as Ugbolopkoso, Ugbomro, Uti and other places where there is regular power supply to buy ice blocks to run our businesses.
“We have being complaining and the management of BEDC had turned deaf ears to our plights and that is why we have decided to stage this peaceful protest to register our grievances with the BEDC management in this area”, she lamented.
The logjam was, however, sorted out by the council authorities when the councillor representing ward 1 of Uvwie council, where Alegbo belongs to, Efe Ani, and the chairman of the council, Mrs Stella Dobonor, intervened persuading the protesters to vacate the road and the premises of the electricity company and agree to a scheduled peace meeting today (Wednesday)